Alopecia Awareness Month: Hair Loss Is More Than Hair
The sentiment you stated, "Hair loss is so much more than...hair. It's the loss of identity, femininity and the way you get to express yourself!" is something so many women feel. Can you recall the emotions you experienced when your hair changing felt like more than just "hair"?
"When my hair started to change, so did I. As a child, I absolutely loved my hair & when it started falling out at 9 years old I always felt like an outsider. I felt like I couldn’t fit in as a child and was even bullied for my hair loss for 4 years.
The most difficult time I’d say was when I was a teenager & my hair had thinned out significantly. I felt incredibly insecure & stopped doing a lot of things that I absolutely loved like going to the beach, horseback riding and so much more.
My hair loss took over my confidence and identity and I would just always get asked why my hair was so thin and why you could see my scalp but since no doctor could give me a diagnosis at the time, which was more than frustrating, I was just constantly overwhelmed, insecure and didn’t feel like myself at all anymore. I didn’t feel feminine or attractive and would just constantly worry about my hair.
At the time, I never liked the way I looked and felt quite hopeless after going to countless doctors and specialists that could never give me a diagnosis nor would any of the treatments work for me, unfortunately.
When I finally got my scarring alopecia, LPP (Lichen Planopilaris), diagnosis back in October of 2024 I felt absolutely heartbroken over the fact that there’s nothing I can do to regrow my hair anymore. That however only lasted for a day & afterwards I started looking into wigs.
Last December I booked my first wig consultation and cried for 3 days straight after. I finally saw a part of myself again that I had lost so many years ago. After that there was no going back & I absolutely fell in love with wearing wigs. It brought back different parts of my personality that I could finally live again.
Now I’m actually grateful for my hair loss & absolutely love wearing my little buzzcut with the hair that’s left as well as wearing wigs whenever I want to!"
What would you tell someone who is at the beginning of their hair journey and is worried about losing that sense of identity, femininity, or expression? What helped you regain confidence, outside of just a hairpiece?
"For me, I had to fall in love with the person I am in order to deal with my hair loss properly. I wanted to have a soul that I could be proud of. I wanted to love me for me, no matter the way I looked. So I did a lot of work on myself, found out who I wanted to be and spent a lot of time by myself. I started doing things in life that I truly wanted to do instead of living against myself and the more I became who I wanted to be, the more I was living my dreams, the more I started to shine from the inside out.
I didn’t want to be known for my hair loss but rather for my kind soul and that is what changed it all for me.
I didn’t want to be known for my hair loss but rather for my kind soul and that is what changed it all for me.
From that moment on, people hardly noticed my hair loss but rather were always focused on my personality. To them I just had very thin hair but they said that they were way more focused on my eyes & who I was rather the way my hair looked.
Getting my first ever wig just brought back a different part of my femininity & it allowed me to express myself in ways that I couldn’t do before.
Now I feel an insane sense of freedom because I took control over my hair loss by purchasing my first ever wig & getting to choose which character I want to be each day, which is just a lot of fun tbh."
September is Alopecia Awareness Month, a time dedicated to bringing light to a very personal experience. What advice would you give to someone who doesn't have hair loss to support those around them that do?
"If you’ve got someone who’s dealing with hair loss just be supportive & listen rather than giving out too much unsolicited advice.
For most people this is a very sensitive topic which they will tell you about whenever they’re ready but don’t just make every conversation about their hair loss.
They’re so much more than their hair, so make them feel that. If they’ve got any doctors appointments regarding their loss of hair or ask for advice on how to grow back their hair, then support them in any way possible but as long as they don’t open up about it themselves don’t give out advice or recommendations.
Be there for them when they need you and show them that they are far more beyond their hair loss. It’s not just hair they’re losing but so much more, so just be as understanding as you can be."
You work as a model, where your look is quite literally part of the job! How do you navigate the modeling industry as someone going through hair loss?
"Being in front of a camera pretty much every single day used to be quite difficult before I buzzed off my hair back in February of this year.
Even though I was modeling as a hair loss model for wigs I still felt insecure about my hair as it was just super thin and looked oily just an hour after washing.
The last few strands of my hair didn’t feel like me anymore, so rather than holding on to it it was finally time to let it go and buzz it all off, which has truly been my best decision so far during my hair loss journey.
I no longer have to worry about my hair anymore and feel absolutely free when standing in front of a camera whether I’m wearing a wig or not."
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